19-24Aug22 Chris Thomas Visits Finland
Having worked in Europe a few times over the years I am always aware of the difference in climate and therefore the growing conditions etc. I try to rely on local knowledge and stress that my suggestions are from the way my environment impacts on the techniques that are imposed on the trees and that this should be at all times considered.
That being said, working in Finland as I have been lately is an whole different ball
game. Imagine this close to 6 months of total darkness day and night with temperatures as low as -20 and 1 metre of snow!
Summer is short by comparison to ours and light for most of the day and night, the amount of light hours becomes similar time wise to us. Combine this with massive amounts of deer ,rabbits and moose and things like saw fly that can deverstate pine needle over night and you can see why climaticly this is "bonsai on the edge ".
Everything growing wise is done in a very short period of time and some trees are over wintered in massive insulated boxes or cellers.
Many trees are lost due to the extremes but they keep such an optimistic outlook and are resilient and determined
It's been a privilege and a pleasure to work with groups in Finland over the past few years
Chris Thomas
Christ Thomas Bonsai
That being said, working in Finland as I have been lately is an whole different ball
game. Imagine this close to 6 months of total darkness day and night with temperatures as low as -20 and 1 metre of snow!
Summer is short by comparison to ours and light for most of the day and night, the amount of light hours becomes similar time wise to us. Combine this with massive amounts of deer ,rabbits and moose and things like saw fly that can deverstate pine needle over night and you can see why climaticly this is "bonsai on the edge ".
Everything growing wise is done in a very short period of time and some trees are over wintered in massive insulated boxes or cellers.
Many trees are lost due to the extremes but they keep such an optimistic outlook and are resilient and determined
It's been a privilege and a pleasure to work with groups in Finland over the past few years
Chris Thomas
Christ Thomas Bonsai
The locations for the workshop's were quite breathtaking.
Jan Tammisto, the leading light in Finish Bonsai
Meeting up before the workshop
The fence is because of the deer and moose
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Working on a forest planting before and after
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Good use is made of balconies in the city's, this is Thomas's in Helsinki